My young Border Collie is exhibiting many symptoms consistent with distemper( extreme loss of appetite, lathargic, extreme lack of energy and motivation, very foul smelling stool and or body odor). Aside from taking him to the vet. Due to financial constraints, how can I be sure it is distemper and can my cat get it from being in direct contact with my dog?

My young Border Collie is exhibiting many symptoms consistent with distemper( extreme loss of appetite, lathargic, extreme lack of energy and motivation, very foul smelling stool and or body odor). Aside from taking him to the vet. due to financial constraints, how can I be sure it is distemper and can my cat get it from being in direct contact with my dog?


It's diagnosed by a Vet - you aren't going to like this BUT Vet bills are part of owning a dog.

Your dog is very apparently suffering, could be dying in slow, painful steps.

Either surrender the dog to someone who can give it proper medical care OR scrape the money together for a Vet visit OR watch it die (if it's distemper or parvo). I think it sounds like parvo, but I'm not a Vet.

When did the dog have its distemper shot? How long ago?

Same with the parvo shots.

I'm not a vet either, but I have to agree with JudyKaytee here, sounds a lot like parvo.
Either one makes for a very sick pup who desperately needs medical care.
Do the right thing and either rehome to someone who can afford to treat or scrape together the funds to do so yourself.
Your vet should have some ideas on how you can go about doing either of these things, they will know what agencies offer help and can help put you in touch with them.

I'm not a vet either, but I have to agree with JudyKaytee here, sounds a lot like parvo.
Either one makes for a very sick pup who desperately needs medical care.
Do the right thing and either rehome to someone who can afford to treat or scrape together the funds to do so yourself.
Your vet should have some ideas on how you can go about doing either of these things, they will know what agencies offer help and can help put you in touch with them.


Bet you 10 to 1 that OP never comes back and answers my questions.

Bet you 10 to 1 that OP never comes back and answers my questions.

You're probably right, I've noticed a whole lot of that lately.

They don't come back because we told them the truth, and they don't want the truth. They don't want to hear that they need to go to the vet, that their dog may die if they don't.

So they leave, find another site, one that will tell them everything will be fine. Then, when the dog dies, they can believe that it wasn't their fault, they did all they could.

It's sad, but most of the people that post here really don't want the truth, they want someone to tell them that they're right, that they're doing all they can, that they're not bad owners because they won't go to the vet.

I get it, money is tight. My family lives paycheck to paycheck, and I have a lot of animals. Not one of them goes without vet care when it's needed. I've sold things in order to get them to the vet. I've never had to do it, thankfully (knock on wood), but if my only option was to re-home a sick pet because I can't afford the vet, I'd do it. I'd cry my heart out, because my animals are my family, but I'd do it, because that's real love.

"If you love something let it go. If it comes back to you, it's yours. If it doesn't, it never was".

Take your dog to the vet or put it down humanely.

I will never understand why people purchase animals with no money to care for it. That's like buying a car and never expecting to buy new tires.

They need to go to the vet at least once or twice a year. Animals cannot tell us when something doesn't feel right, or when they hurt, or when the start feeling sick...

If you cannot afford vet bills, the rehome your pets.

Ya know, its not expensive to just go to the vet and have them look at it.

Distemper is much worse than parvo, but both are just as fatal. If your puppy doesn't make it to the vet to either be put down humanely, or treated.. than he is going to die a slow, painful death.

Shame on you...